No one--individual or corporate entity--should be permitted to incur
obligations and walk away from them.

A corporation's liabilities should fall upon its shareholders if it is
otherwise unable to meet them. Corporate officers should be held liable to the limits of
their personal fortunes if they've committed fraud or fraud has been committed by their
subordinates and their ignorance of it is due to a lack of diligence in supervision..

Many libertarians have a hard time reconciling their position on this
subject with their fundamental principles. Government intervention to dissolve debts
compromises personal responsibility and the free market.

American Indians

The treaties under which Native Americans have special status under the
law should be abrogated. They are in direct contradiction to the principle of equality
before the law, which is one of the cornerstones of democracy. All tribal property should
be divided among individual members of each Indian tribe, there should be a one-time
payment to Indians in settlement of all outstanding claims, and henceforward they should
be treated exactly the same as any other citizen.

(The same principle applies to the "veterans' bonds" that keep
appearing on electin ballots. I appreciate what veterans have done for our country but
they should be paid off in full, once and for all. The public should not be
nickle-and-dimed.)

Apportionment of Lawsuit Costs

Each party to a lawsuit should state a dollar amount that the matter is
worth (there would need to be special rules for specific-performance matters). The legal
costs would be apprortioned proportionally to the distance from the position of each from
the amount awarded by the judge or jury and would be adjusted if this amount is changed on
appeal.

Bottom-Line Pricing

All prices should be quoted inclusive of all taxes, shipping and
handling fees, and other fees which are not, practically-speaking, optional, as if the
engine were an "extra" when one purchased a car.

Campaign Finance Reform

Contributions to political campaigns by organizations other than
political parties should be prohibited, just as political parties face severe restrictions
on commerical activities. Only those who are eligible to vote for a candidate should be
permitted to contribute. And no individual should be permitted to contribute more than
$1000.

Car Carriers

The surface that the rearmost carried vehicle rests on, for any layer of
any vehicle used for carrying motor vehicles on public roads, should be required to be
tilted forward so that if a carried vehicle were to come loose it would roll forward and
not off the carrier. Above the top of the cab, the surface on which the frontmost vehicle
rests should be required to be tilted backward.

Car Radios

Manufacturers of car radios should be required to construct them with a
very low maximum volume.

Child Molesters

The penalty for any sexual offense against a child should be life
imprisonment without the possibility of parole. The recidivism rate is the highest for any
class of offenses and the typical molester has dozens or hundreds of victims. Letting them
out on the street is like drawing to an inside straight.

Chain Advertising

Anything that's advertised by a chain should be required to be available
at all outlets operating under the name of the chain, whether they're separately owned or
not. "Available at participating stores" takes unfair advantage of the
name-recognition of the chain. It's like a chain selling products at a loss in one
location where there is fierce competition in order to drive a competitor out of business,
but much easier to police.

Childhood Obesity

A child is under the authority of his or her parents or guardian.
Allowing a child to become obese is child abuse and the parents should be prosecuted for
it.

Child Molesters

Those who sexually abuse children have a sky-high recidivism rate, and
typically have scores or hundreds of victims. No convicted child-molester should ever
be released into society to prey on more innocent children.

Complainants' Rights

Anyone who makes a complaint about the actions of a representative of an
organization that he or she has dealt with should be permitted to attend any disciplinary
hearings held as a result, to record any such hearing, to receive copies of all evidence
presented therein, and to be fully informed, in writing, of the resolution of his or her
complaint by the organization.

Constitutionality Challenges

An advantage of living in a democracy, as opposed to a dictatorship, is
that laws are enacted first and enforced afterwards, in accordance with the principle that
ours is a government of laws, not of men. But the principle requires a similar
predictability of judicial outcomes. Citizens should be permitted to challenge the
constitutionality of a law without having to put their asses on the line by breaking it.

Death Penalty

When someone is sentenced to death, his or her sentence is automatically
appealed, and such appeals often go all the way to the Supreme Court. At the highest level
of appeal the decision is final--and it should be the Justices who make the decision who
take the action that actually kills the condemned man. He should be strapped into the
gurney and have the needle inserted before the decision is made. Each Justice should have
a button. If five buttons are pressed--zap! you're dead!

It is ethically unjustifiable for one man to carry out another's order
to kill a human being, although I'm willing to make an exception in the case of war, when
there's often no other choice.

Governmental Modesty

Governments have indulged in extravagant self-praise and shameless
favoritism toward a privileged class since the dawn of history, but this is wrong; it is
an affront to human dignity. Titles like "The Honorable" should be eliminated
and so should terms like "Superior Court" and "Supreme Court."
And, of course, countries with "royalty" and "nobility" should
abolish them.

"Contempt of Court" should be replaced by "disruption of
court." One should be permitted to express one's contempt as long as it is done
decorously--"the honorable member is a fool," as opposed to "screw
you."

Intangible Damages

Many legal cases result in the awarding of damages for lost, stolen, or damaged
property. But the accomplishment of either repairs or purchases of replacement items
requires time and inconvenience. A modest amount, say $200, should be added to each such
judgement as a more realistic measure of damages, though this will fall short of the
actual value of the inconvenience in many cases.

Intellectual Property Theft Outside the U.S.

Highly-subsidized legal representation in foreign nations should be
provided to individuals and businesses whose U.S. patents, copyrights, or trademarks
are infringed outside the United States.

Juries

The jury system in the U.S. works poorly and needs a complete overhaul.

Jury duty is a curse and busy people naturally want to avoid it, and often do. The
result is that juries tend not to be a random sample of the population by economic and
social status; they are preferentially composed of losers. Jurors receive insultingly low
pay, especially when considered in the light of the importance of the function that
society requires them to perform. Both of these problems could be alleviated by
substantially increasing the compensation of jurors.

This could be accomplished without straining the already-overstretched budgets of
government at all levels by videotaping trials and showing the jury the case in a
compressed form including only what is relevant to their function. This would allow a
higher hourly rate for jurors because only a small fraction of the number of hours now
needed would be required for each case. And an additional advantage is that material
objected to and ruled inadmissable would not be heard by the jury in the first place.

Long-Distance Hauling

Transportation of cargo by truck beyond approximately 200 miles should
be prohibited. Such cargo should be transmitted by rail, for reasons of public safety and
energy efficiency.

Luxury Taxes

Society needs to do many worthy but expensive things. How can society
pay for these things when tax rates are already perceived as burdensome? I think that we
need to embrace much more fully the idea of *luxury taxes* and take a long, hard look at
what can be fairly defined as a luxury. Items like SUV's and other recreational vehicle
(which I've proposed banning entirely) should be subject to very high taxes.

How high is high enough? That's an empirical question. I suggest that it
would make sense to increase these taxes a little bit at a time until demand begins to
falter. If we wish to actually discourage harmful products and practices we don't have to
stop there, but it obviously makes no sense to stop before this point.

Food, shelter, and medicine are already exempt from sales taxes. The
list of necessities should be expanded somewhat, but great care should be takennot to
include anything not really necessary for life.

Microsoft Monopoly Case

The problem is Microsoft's operating system monopoly. None of the
proposed remedies does anything about that. The solution: place DOS and Windows through 98
(with complete source code and documentation) into the public domain and let other
companies use them as a platform to compete with Microsoft.

Monopolies

No business entity should be permitted to control more than 30% of any
market with a billion dollars or more in yearly sales for more than five years. The three
quantitative elements--30%, $1,000,000,000, and five years--are all, to some degree,
arbitrary, but the principle is what's important here. Control of a market by one or two
companies stifles competition. When a company exceeds its allowed market share it should
be broken up, like AT&T.

"Political Crimes"

Claims to immunity from prosecution or extradition for so-called
"political crimes" make sense only when the criminality of the actions involved
is a political fiction in the first place. "Political" causes are no excuse for
lawbreaking in a free society. There are lawful ways to get one's message across.

Prison Reform

Prisons today are a close approximation of hell. Inmates are constantly
in danger from other inmates.

In order to prevent this, each inmate should be confined in a private
cell, out of the reach of others and periodically given access to exercise areas, but only
with guards present to prevent attacks on one inmate by another. Each cell should be
equipped with a television set behind a tough clear-plastic panel that prevents the
occupant from destroying it, to give the isolated inmates a sense of contact with the rest
of the world. This would prevent them from becoming as hardened in prison as is now
routinely the case, and would save lives as well.

Prohibition of Advertising Exploiting the Appeal of Children

The use of children in commercials for products not intended
specifically for children should be outlawed.

Prohibition of Advertising Targeting Vulnerable Classes

No advertisement which takes advantage of the desires, fears, and
critical weaknesses of the feebleminded, the mentally ill, children, or the elderly should
be permitted.

Prohibition of Cancellation Fees and Prepayment Penalties

Cancellation fees and prepayment penalties should be prohibited.
Businesses should have an incentive to keep their customers happy. And often people who
pay off their mortgages early are in difficult enough financial circumstances already.

Prohibition of "Civil Restitution"

Outlaw "civil restitution," a practice legal in 49 states
which permits merchants to detain alleged shoplifters and collect money not to prosecute
them.

Prohibition of Closure of Public Streets

Prohibit the closure of public streets and other public areas for
private events, such as races and parades, and for public ceremonial events. They should
only be closed for required repairs to the streets themselves or to utilities, and then
during non-peak traffic hours when possible.

Prohibition of Concurrent Sentences

Why should criminals who commit multiple crimes get a price break on
their punishment? All multiple sentences should be served consecutively.

Prohibition of Euthanasia

Although persons sometimes wish to die, the risk that ending someone's
life against his or her will will be made to appear to have been done with the person's
consent is unacceptable.

Prohibition of Exclusion of Competitors

No business should be permitted to include a provision in any contract
with a customer or other business requiring that that customer or business not do business
with its competitors, nor to terminate a business relationship based on the other party's
doing business with third parties.

Prohibition of Hunting

The destruction of life for "sport" is inherently repugnant,
but there is another compelling consideration: when one fires a weapon in a wooded area,
one never knows for sure that there is not another human being along one's line of fire
but beyond one's line of sight.

Prohibition of Private Fines

No nongovernmental organization should be permitted to fine anyone for
anything.

Prohibition of Private Security Guards and Towing

No nongovernmental organization should be allowed to do any kind of
private policing; those who want police services over and above those available to any
citizen should have to buy them from their local police departments. Towing or
immobilization of automobiles should also be performed only by police officers. If
somebody is using force on other people I want him to be working for the people, not some
private interest.

Prohibition of "Recreational Vehicles"

Vehicles such as SUV's, snowmobiles, and jet skis are dangerous,
wasteful of energy, and harmful to the environment. They should be banned.

Prohibition of Very Large Assemblies

When the U.S. Founding Fathers drafted the Bill of Rights, they could
not have been imagining 50,000 people in a stadium. I've thought for years that assemblies
larger than a few hundred, or a few thousand at most, should be banned, because the point
of freedom of assembly is for citizens to be able to gather together in a forum where
everyone can hear everyone else and organize themelves, and beyond a certain scale the
traffic associated with them is burdensome to the surrounding community. Let's say that
assemblies of over 5000 people should be banned (the exact number is negotiable).

Now, in the Terrorist Millenium, there is another reason--denying the
terrorists opportunities to commit murder on an unprecedented scale. I realize that this
would be tough on large entertainment companies and their overpaid superstars in the short
run, but it would be very good for the little guy in the entertainment business in the
long run.

Prohibition of Waiver of the Right to Sue

Waiver of the right to sue, with or without pursuing other remedies
first, should be prohibited. Mandatory arbitration should not be permitted.

Property Tax Assessments

The practice of reassessing real property only when its transferred
results in grossly disproportionate taxation of comparable properties and should be
abolished. It's an obvious violation of the "equal protection" clause of the
U.S. Constitution.

Psychics, Astrologers, and Fortune Tellers

Purveyors of these services should be required to furnish proof of the
truth of their claims.

Public Records

Every action of any public body should be recorded, including
all circular communications among members of such bodies. All government records
should be made available promptly to the public, except those containing private
information pertaining to individual human beings (but not to businesses; all
their tax returns and other transactions with the government should be open to public
scrutiny). All official proceedings should be open to the public. There should be
no exceptions for personnel and legal matters (national security matters are trickier;
it's harder to draw hard and fast rules in this area, but every claimed national-security
exemption should be reviewed by a judge). The People should be like a blackjack dealer;
they should play with their cards face up.

Regulation of Motorcyles and Bicycles

Motorcycles and bicyles are a menace on the roads. Some of the reasons
are the same and some are different.

Both motorcycle- and bicycle-riders tend to cut in and out of traffic in
disconcerting and therefore dangerous ways. Motorcyles should certainly not be permitted
to drive between lanes of traffic. And the limitations of bicycle speeds make them an
impediment to smooth traffic flow.

Motorcycles are loud, greasy, and obnoxious. Muffler and emissions laws
should be strictly enforced with regard to motorcycles.

Bicyclists consistently place conserving their forward momentum above
obeying the traffic laws (e.g., they seldom stop at stop signs), but what is even more
dangerous is that they suddenly swing out in front of drivers who are waiting for an
opportunity to pass them, leading to many near-collisions. Because the enforcement problem
is intractable, I recommend confining bicycles to low-traffic residential areas and
dedicated bicycle parks and reserving busier roads for motorized vehicles.

Repeal of Sovereign Immunity

The state should not be in a privileged position with regard to
susceptibility to lawsuits for damages or the ability of citizens to seek remedies against
it in the courts.

Restriction of the Use of Handcuffs and Other Forms of Restraint

Police should not be permitted to handcuff or shackle persons in custody
who have not attempted to flee or attacked anyone. It is a major affront to human dignity.
Similarly, prisoners should not be touched if they respond to verbal commands.

Severance Pay for Public Employees

Terminated public employees should not receive severance packages valued
at more than one month's pay.

Spam Regulation

The senders of spam are not paying for the channels through which we are receiving
useful information; they are freeloaders and they are clogging the e-mail system, a vital
tool for idea workers today, and polluting people's associations with content irrelevant
and useless for life--or worse, with crude and violent images that disturb one's peace.

There is no constitutional right to spam. The Supreme Court has held that the
government may regulate the time, place, and manner of speech. The proper place for
advertising is within content that one chooses to receive voluntarily which is supported
financially by the advertiser. And this clearly has broader implications: billboards
should not line public streets, public solicitation should be prohibited, etc. Society,
putting itself in the place of the invidual, should ask, "what's in it for me?"
The sense of common humanity is a wonderful thing, but I resent those who take advantage
of it for business reasons. If there are business reasons for contacting another, both
sides must stand to receive something of value. It is unacceptable behavior to broadcast
thousands of copies of an advertisement in the hope that one person will be interested
unless those who are not interested are rewarded with content that does interest
them. This is theft of attention.

(This is also a very important principle of child-rearing: a child must be trained from
an early age that he is responsible for making sure that there's a high probability that
others will be interested in what he's saying before he speaks to them. Prattlers older
than three annoy other people by stealing their attentiion, making themselves unpopular.)

The complementary principle to the freedom to speak is the freedom not to be forced to
listen.

There should be substantial penalties for unsolicited visits and mail, phone, fax, or
e-mail communications from parties not personally known to the recipients, and it should
be made easy to get the criminal authorities involved and to sue locally to enforce them.

Of course, spammers are always on the move and many of them mail from outside the U.S.,
but there is an effective way round this: as with the customers of prostitutes, those who
buy from spammers should be prosecuted--and the government should run frequent sting
operations to catch them. A little jail time would make spam as a profit-making venture
dry up almost overnight.

"Buy from a spammer, go to the slammer."

Taxation

Taxation of property is wrong and so is taxation of income.
Taxation should fall entirely on purchases. If you buy stuff you should have to pay the
government a share of what you acquire for your personal enjoyment. I agree with the
exemption of necessities of life, such as food and medicine, from sales taxes, but other
acquisitions should be taxed.

Theft of Attention

Advertising should only be permitted in content that those who see it
voluntarily purchase or acquire with the undertstanding that it's supported by
advertising. Billboards and other form of advertising foisted upon the public which divert
attention from people's personal concerns should be outlawed.

Three Points and You're Out

Existing "three strikes" laws are a good idea, as they remove
some of the worst slimeballs from society, but there's been some concern about people
being sent to prison after a trivial "third strike" and the system could use
some refinement. I propose a point system, with three points sending an offender to prison
for life, as follows:

basic

Misdemeanor

1 point.

Felony

2 points

aggravating factors

Sexual element

1 point

Death of the victim

2 points

Great bodily harm

1 point

Use of a firearm

1 point

Victim underage

1 point

Tracking Violent Offenders

Tracking sexual predators is a good idea which should be expanded to all
violent offenders. Violent people usually don't change and those convicted of violent
offenses should be closely monitored for the rest of their lives. Those who inflict
serious injuries or cause death should never be released.

Treaties

There is a very stupid principle of law that considers treaties to have
equal standing with the U.S. Constitution. In my opinion, treaties should be subsidiary
not only to the Constitution, but to federal statutes. It is outrageous that trade
agreements like NAFTA are allowed to trump U.S. environmental and consumer-protection
laws.

Truth in Scheduling

Television stations should be required to start their programs on time,
not a minute or two early, and transportation companies should be required not to get
ahead of schedule, leaving on-time passengers stranded. Being either ahead of or behind
schedule is a violation of truth in advertising and heavy fines should be assessed
for such violations.

Unenforceability of Secret Settlements

The terms of settlement of any settled lawsuit should have to be made
public at the time of the settlement in order to be enforceable.

Usury

Permitted interest rates should be no higher for commerical enterprises
than for private parties.

Verbal Self-defense

Whenever and wherever a man is criticized--in court, in church, on an
e-mail list, anywhere--he has a right to reply in his own defense, and the law should
provide for this. Furthermore, no one should be permitted to eject him from the venue in
which the criticism occurs in order to prevent him from exercising this right or in
retaliation for doing so.

Those who support the Second-Amendment right to bear arms should
recognize and support this analogous right.

Victims' Right to Punishment of Victimizers

It should be possible for victims of crime to go to court to compel
law-enforcement agencies to arrest and charge the perpetrators. No district attorney
should be permitted to make a plea agreement in any offense in which there are human
victims without the consent of the victim or the victim's parent, guardian, or estate.

Welfare Reform

It is very right that a humane and compassionate society should provide a safety net
for those who are down and out. But beggars can't be choosers. Today, the majority of
welfare recipients are living in the more expensive central cities at the expense of the
taxpayers.

The use of pesticides in agriculture is a major health problem, but it permits a higher
degree of automation in farming.

Welfare, as it exists today should be abolished. Any able-bodied person should be
guaranteed a job doing farm labor and more labor-intensive hands-on organic methods should
replace current farming methods. Only the elderly, the disabled, pregnant women, and
nursing mothers should be allowed to collect welfare. And all welfare recipients should be
required to live in less-expensive rural areas.

This is important not only to control welfare costs but to turn around the decay of the
inner cities. In traditional societies, the king or governor lived in the center,
surrounded by other officials and the wealthiest class, then the merchants, and with the
lowest classes, employed primarily in agriculture, at the periphery. This was a superior
system.